Chapter 196

Chapter 196

Elizabeth knew—he hated her. Because of Daisy's death, Ethan had always considered her the culprit.

"Officer, if there's nothing else, I'll be going." Ethan adjusted his suit cuffs. "My lawyer will cooperate fully with the investigation. However... I reserve the right to pursue charges against anyone who fabricated evidence and made false accusations."

As he said this, his gaze swept over Elizabeth, seemingly casual yet pointed.

Elizabeth stood in place, watching Ethan's retreating figure, clenching her fists. Her nails dug deep into her palms, but she felt no pain.

"Elizabeth." Cornelius appeared—she didn't know when he'd arrived—walking straight to her side. "Let's go back."

"You also think the recording is fake?" Elizabeth turned to look at him.

Cornelius simply said, "Conviction requires solid evidence."

Those words pierced Elizabeth's heart like a needle.

She'd thought that after everything they'd been through, at least in this matter, Cornelius would believe her.

Elizabeth's lips curved, wanting to smile, but unable to.

"I'll go back on my own." She turned and walked toward the station exit.

Outside, the sky had darkened. A cold wind blew, carrying bone-chilling cold. Elizabeth stood by the roadside, watching the traffic flow, Ethan's expression from earlier replaying in her mind.

Too calm.

Too calm for someone suddenly accused.

Unless... he'd known about this recording all along. Unless... he'd already prepared a countermeasure.

A terrifying thought gradually surfaced—

She'd overlooked one question all along. This recording—Nash had never mentioned it from start to finish. She didn't think Nash had any reason to hide it, unless Nash himself didn't know the recording existed.

Then, who planted the recording?

If this wasn't evidence, then it was a carefully laid trap.

Three days later.

Elizabeth sat on Flora's sofa, holding a cup of tea that had long gone cold. Outside the window, rain drizzled endlessly, just like her current mood—damp and gloomy.

"Beth, you've been staring at that verification report for two hours." Flora sat down beside her, sighing. "Even if the recording is fake, we can investigate from other angles."

"How?" Elizabeth looked up, exhausted red threads visible in her eyes. "Ethan's meticulous. Nash has changed his story now. We can't get anything from Karena either... All leads are dead ends."

"Who says they're dead? I know someone who might be able to help."

"Who?"

"Eugene Bailey." When Flora said the name, a hint of discomfort flashed across her face. "He was my college classmate. Now he's... I guess you'd call him a freelancer. Incredibly skilled with computers. He's helped me out a few times before. Very reliable."

Elizabeth keenly caught that subtle change in her friend's expression, but since Flora didn't want to elaborate, she didn't press.

"Will it put you in a difficult position?"

"No, don't worry. I'll contact him for you." Flora patted her chest confidently. "And he's absolutely dependable. The guy looks like a slacker, but he's serious when it comes to work."

Elizabeth hesitated for a few seconds before finally nodding. "All right, let's meet him."

That evening, Eugene appeared at Flora's place.

He looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wearing a black hoodie with an anime print, hair somewhat long, black-framed glasses. The standard image of a homebody. Behind the lenses, his eyes showed some awkwardness and nervousness.

"Ms. Whitaker... it's, it's an honor." Eugene stuttered slightly. He was too nervous, taking several deep breaths before calming down. "Flora told me about your cousin. I understand the situation roughly. You suspect Ethan is the mastermind behind it all, but you don't have evidence?"

"Right." Elizabeth briefly explained how the USB drive recording had been verified as fabricated.

After listening, Eugene rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If the recording is fake, that means they anticipated you'd obtain this evidence and prepared countermeasures in advance. This method... pretty sophisticated."

"I'd like to ask for your help investigating Ethan's financial transactions over the past three months, especially anything related to Nash." Elizabeth said. "A gambling addict like Nash only does things for money. If Ethan wanted him to act, he'd have to pay."

Eugene nodded. He'd completely calmed down now, speaking with clear logic. "The approach is correct. But given Ethan's caution, he definitely wouldn't transfer money directly. He'd probably use intermediaries or overseas accounts."

He opened the laptop he'd brought with him, fingers flying across the keyboard. Lines of code flashed across the screen. Elizabeth couldn't really understand it, but found it impressive.

How could he comprehend all those complex strings of code?

Really amazing!

"I'll check Ethan's assistant's account first." Eugene said as he worked. "For dirty work like this, the boss usually wouldn't do it personally."

Time passed to the sound of keyboard clicks.

Flora ordered takeout. After the three of them ate a simple dinner, Eugene finally made progress.

"Found it." Eugene pointed to a record on the screen. "Three months ago, Ethan's personal assistant Bodhi Scott transferred three million dollars through an offshore company account to an anonymous Swiss bank account. The day after receiving the transfer, this Swiss account sent out one million dollars each to three different domestic accounts."

Elizabeth leaned closer to the screen. "Can you find out information on those three domestic accounts?"

"Working on breaking through now." Eugene's fingers danced across the keyboard. "They used multiple layers of encryption, but it's not a big problem... give me half an hour."

During the wait, Elizabeth's heartbeat quickened.

She had a feeling they'd really caught a lead this time.

Sure enough, half an hour later, Eugene excitedly snapped his fingers. "Done! Three accounts. Two are shell companies. The third... registered to someone named Ralph Nelson, twenty-two years old, works as a network administrator at an internet cafe in the north district."

"Ralph?" Elizabeth frowned. "Does he have a connection to Nash?"

"Let me check their social trajectories." Eugene continued operating.

A few minutes later, he marked several red dots on a map. "Look here. Nash frequently visits a casino in the south district, but he goes to 'SpeedNet Internet Cafe' in the north district three times a week without fail. And this Ralph... works at that very internet cafe."

Elizabeth stared at the coordinates on the screen. "Too much of a coincidence."

"Not a coincidence." Flora analyzed. "If Ralph is the person Ethan's assistant sent to contact Nash, an internet cafe would be the perfect meeting spot. High foot traffic, surveillance doesn't necessarily cover everything, and they could use gaming as cover."

Elizabeth stood up. "I need to meet this Ralph."

The next afternoon, Elizabeth came alone to SpeedNet Internet Cafe.

It was a sizable establishment, two floors, probably over two hundred machines. When she walked in, a young man with bleached hair sat at the front desk, head down playing on his phone.

"Is Ralph here?" Elizabeth asked.

The young man looked up, sizing her up. "Ralph? He's off today. What do you need him for?"

"A friend introduced me. I have some personal business I'd like his help with." Elizabeth flashed a gentle smile. "Could you tell me where he lives? Or give him a call?"

The young man hesitated before pulling out his phone. "I'll ask him for you."

After the call connected, the young man said a few words before handing the phone to Elizabeth. "Ralph wants to talk to you."

Elizabeth took the phone. A somewhat hoarse male voice came through. "Who is this?"

"Ralph, hello. I'm a bank manager. Your account recently had a large transfer at our bank that was flagged as high-risk. We've temporarily frozen the account. Due to the large amount, we need to verify with you in person."

The person on the other end immediately panicked. "What? What gives you the right to freeze it? Damn it! Wait there, I'm coming right now!"

Elizabeth returned the phone to the young man, thanked him, and left. But she didn't go far—she found a window seat at the coffee shop across from the internet cafe.

She wasn't in a hurry. Even if Ralph called customer service, he'd get the same story.

She couldn't help but marvel again at how useful hacking skills were.

Sure enough, half an hour later, a tall, thin young man wearing a baseball cap hurried into the internet cafe.

He looked younger than Elizabeth had imagined—maybe just over twenty, wearing an oversized denim jacket. After entering, his gaze swept the area before finally landing on Elizabeth's face.

"You're the bank manager?"